Teaching a Fox
by The Pyroman
Summary: Naruto's worst beating yet happens on a night when the fox doesn't feel like cooperating. Anko finds Naruto just as things start to go bad, and neither of them expected the events to unravel because of it! M for language, violence, and other M-rated things.
1. The rescue

"Oh so this is what you do when the poor Gaki's not looking." The young woman spoke up from the roof of a nearby roof, looking down at the group of people with weapons of all sorts. She didn't know at first why they were grouped up when that had chased a boy that had passed her not five minutes ago. When she had caught up to the group in question, she only had to look at the boy for a slip second before figuring out why they were after him. His body now was covered in his own blood and various bruises were scattered all over his body as he lay down half conscious in the center of a group of men and woman, all angry at him for the beast inside of him.

The group had taken a small step away from the boy as they had heard an unmistakable voice, one that filled with determination to protect the boy, as well as venom for the villagers who were attacking them this night. It wasn't an uncommon thing for the blond haired boy to be chased and beaten, but today was by far the worst of them. It wasn't just clenched fists and kicks, but weapons as well, mainly kunai and shuriken. Many people's grips on their weapons had tightened with fear as they looked up, seeing a large trench coat flapping in the wind gently. Her purple, spiky, pineapple-like hair was sitting atop her head as it usually did.

The group's eyes widened in fear as they fully recognized who was calling them out, and although they were afraid, some of them weren't going to show it. "We don't have business with you, Snake whore!" He spat out, rewarded with a piercing glare from the woman on the roof. "We just want the demon brat!"

She knew what it felt like to have the whole village against you, to have them hate you and treat you lower than dirt just because of association. It wasn't exactly the same case with the boy who had just been beaten senseless, but there were enough similarities between the two to make her go out of her way and stand up for him for the day. "The Name," She said fiercely, unleashing all of her killing intent towards the group that had attacked the boy. "is Anko. Mitarishi. You forget it, and I'll have my snakes come after you." Her usual cockyness wasn't there, and was replaced by sheer determination to make sure that they boy's life would get better in some way after this.

She knew his burden, his tenant, and she knew that his life was pretty bad for being known solely as 'the demon brat'. She didn't want for him to go insane like the others, and since he held the most powerful of all nine, the damage from such a rampage would be pretty devastating. The stupidity of the villagers had made them believe that the bay was simply the demon inside of him, and not his jailer. They all wanted revenge on him for one reason or another, but they fail to see that killing him will do absolutely nothing. The demon will regenerate in time and come back, punishing the village known as Konohagakure, or simply Konoha, for causing him so much trouble

As the silence had slowly passed, the villagers were becoming more and more scared of her. It was her specialty after all, and the was one of the best in the Torture and Interrogation department, surpassed only by Ibiki Morino, who almost treated Anko like a daughter when nobody is around. "W-we're not afraid of you, Snak-" The man's words were interrupted by a kunai lodging itself inside of his throat, his body flying to the side and laying dead as he came in contact with ground. Anko smirked and jumped up into the air, landing just in front of the Boy who she had been protecting. He was barely hanging onto life, but he was able to see everything going on around him. He couldn't move, much less speak, and simply lay there as the woman practically landed on top of him. The sudden landing had scared the villagers back a few more steps and her smirk had turned crazed.

"What did I just tell you all? I may not have used my snakes that time, but it doesn't mean I won't kill you." She said in her usual cocky attitude, walking slowly over to the man who she had just killed and ripped her kunai from his throat, turning to the villagers and licking the blood from it so that the throwing dagger was clean. She had certain methods to scare the villagers, and by far that was one of her favorites just by how badly it scared everyone. "Now you better get going before ANBU shows up and you all end up like that guy." She said, pointing to the dead man that she had killed only seconds before.

It didn't take long for the villagers to scatter from the alleyway, leaving just Anko, the boy, and the dead body. Her head snapped up to one of the darker shadows, and she narrowed her eyes, inspecting it closely. "Alright dog-face, Neko why don't you tell me why you didn't swoop in and save the Gaki? Hell, I bet he'd like to know just as much as me." The ANBU with the dog mask sweatdropped as his nickname was mentioned. It wasn't only Anko who used it, but also the boy when he would occasionally see him. The one in the cat mask was forced to hold back a giggle as they both appeared from the shadows in front of the woman and the now unconscious boy. 'Inu' had taken note of his current state and the pool of blood around him as well, his mask tilting downward to look at the boy, then back up to meet Anko's eyes.

"I'll tell you later, but you should get Naruto to the hospital. The fox doesn't seem to be cooperating this time." Inu spoke up, glancing at the boy once more to bring Anko's attention to him. Anko turned around and looked down at the boy, seeing the pool of blood surrounding him and going right through his clothes. _'damnit, I don't think he'll be happy about hearing his clothes are covered in his own blood.' _She thought to herself in a light tone, trying to lighten up the mood just a bit. Her head turned back to the two ANBU and nodded to them, silently telling them to meet at the hospital. In the case that they weren't looking or just didn't understand, she said it aloud. "I'll meet you at the hospital with the gaki, just get him a room and get the doctors ready." The two nodded and _shushined_ away, leaving a small trail of leaves where they once stood. Anko had a matter to take care of first before the hospital, and slowly picked up the unconscious boy in her arms. He couldn't be more than 6 at the time, since she had just quick thoughts in her head about when the Kibuuyi attacked. She was right, almost six years ago the demon fox had attacked, and was eventually sealed inside the boy in her arms.

She didn't really care if her trench coat got messy or not, since she had a complete closet filled with many more just like it. She jumped up into the air and landed on the roof once more, running at full speed to the Hokage tower.

* * *

The Hokage sat quietly at his desk as he dealt with his lifelong adversary, eternal rival, and opponent, paperwork. Even when he was younger and during his initial run as the Hokage, he hated having to do all of the paperwork that was required for the position. More than once he had asked how his processor, the Yondaime, had been able to do all of this work and still manage to have the time to live happily with his wife. The question baffled him, but all thoughts were halted as the doors were blown open with Anko holding the young, bleeding, and unconscious boy in her arms. His eyebrows narrowed as he took in the sight. It had been one of the very few times that Anko had actually looked concerned about someone that wasn't herself, and he only had to guess about what had happened.

"The villagers have attacked Naruto-Kun once more, it seems. It surely won't be the last, but it does seem different." Sarutobi, the Sandime Hokage spoke up, pausing from his late-night work and looking at the two of them. Anko nodded and glanced down at Naruto, who was in a state of deep sleep from the looks of it. "The fox isn't healing his wounds like usual, so I had Neko and Dog-Face go and get a room for him so the doctors could patch him up." Sarutobi sat there quietly for a moment and looked at Naruto, his surrogate grandson and the spitting image of the old Hokage's predecessor. He looked up at Anko who had still seemed to be worried about him. "Well, why are you here then? Having him here will do no good, Anko. We will speak once the hospital starts taking care of him." She knew that she couldn't say anything to make him talk to her now, so she simply complied with a nod and left the room, heading back outside in the dead of the night to the hospital which was only a short distance away.

* * *

Anko dashed out of the Hokage's tower and stayed on the ground this time rather than jumping onto the rooftops, weaving through the streets while keeping Naruto in her arms. She could feel his blood seeping through her jacket, but she didn't have any time to worry about it. She ran into the doors of the hospital where Inu and Neko were standing with a few doctors, some of them having a slight discomfort with having to patch up the 'demon child'. One of the doctors simply motioned for them to follow him and the other doctors into the room. As reluctant as they were about treating Naruto, the ANBU made sure that they would give their full attention to the boy and care for him until he returns to his usual state. They had simply told the doctors that "Anko would be happy to help them with getting more jobs for the hospital", silently telling them that she'd kill them all off if they didn't comply.

Reaching the operation room, one of the doctors took Naruto out or Anko's hand, much to her disliking. One of them even pushed her out of the room as soon as Naruto was in the other doctor's arms. The door to the room was shut in her face as all of the doctors scrambled into the room. She was mad that they weren't going to let her see the operation, but inside she knew that it was for the best. Sigh a small sigh, the Snake Mistress turned to the two ANBU and looked at them with as calm of a face as he could have at the moment. "Alright, now tell me why you didn't go in and save the Gaki as soon as he was stabbed. I think that something like that should tell you that they mean to harm him!"

Her voice rose as she continued, inwardly unsure why she was stressing so much over the six year old child. With a demon inside of him, he could probably protect himself by using its power, but he wasn't. And said demon wasn't even bothering with keeping its container alive. She paused with a curious look, and spoke up once more before either of the ANBU could. "He doesn't know. Does he?" She asked them, causing both masked ninja to shake their heads at the soon to be jonin. She sighed once more and thought more on the subject.

Of course he didn't know. He was only six, he didn't go to school, and he didn't have anyone tell him about the Kyūbi, as were the Hokage's orders. He didn't know why he was being attacked constantly, and only knew that just about everyone in the village, save for a few people, hated him and his very existence.

"I'm going home." She told the two, sighing deeply and walking away. "Go and get me when the Gaki wakes up." She knew that she could simply _Shushin _away, but she just wanted to walk right now, and she was perfectly fine with that.

* * *

Walking back to her home on the edge of the village, she tried her hardest, but couldn't stop thinking about one person.

Naruto.

She hadn't even truly spoken to him, and yet she was all he could think about. He had endured a similar pain to her, but she knew that his pain would be much worse than hers. When she was younger, she actually had people that she cared about, but now she didn't as most people hated her for being associated with _that Snake Bastard. _He however, never really knew people that loved him for him. Sure the Ichirakus loved Naruto, and they did care about him, but they probably wouldn't be like that if he wasn't there almost every day eating ramen by the bucket. Other than the Hokage, those were the only two people that she knew of who actually treated Naruto like a human being. She could count herself onto the list, but this was the first time that she had actually interacted with him.

He was probably the only person that she ever felt bad for, and it was driving her crazy. She just wanted to think about something else, but she just couldn't. While she hadn't ever directly interacted with him, she had seen the boy around the village a few times with that impossibly bright smile on his face. His emotions seemed to be infectious, as when he smiled, a few others smiled around him without knowing it, and when he was in pain, others suddenly felt the same

Anko groaned heavily as she stopped and turned around. The hospital, along with the academy, were connected to the Hokage's tower, and that was where she was going. While she couldn't just make the village stop beating him up, she could at least do her damn best to make sure that he could protect himself when the villagers formed a mob, and that would take some time.

* * *

Reaching the office to the Hokage, Anko opened up the door to find that the God of Shinobi was still at his desk, sighing papers. What she didn't know was that he was watching her on her way back to her home with the use of his crystal ball. "Anko. Is there something else that we need to talk about tonight?" He asked her, already having a good idea of what she was here for.

Anko nodded at the Hokage and looked at him calmly. His light smile and calm demeanor told her everything that she wanted to know at the moment. She knew that Hiruzen was extremely pissed off on the inside, but wouldn't show it. He was angered at the village for treating Naruto they way that they have been, and right now it only took one small step in the wrong direction to bring on his wrath. "Yes, Hokage-sama." She said back to him, thinking her thoughts over again to make sure that she would be making the right decision. "I want to become Naruto's guardian."

* * *

**Tada! A new story that I've been thinking about for a while. **

**While I am going to be Pairing up Naruto with someone later on, I have no idea who it will be. I'm always up for odd and crazy pairings, and although I'm fully up for some NaruAnko, that isn't what this story is about... completely.**

**I'm making Anko a bit older for this, to when he becomes a genin, at age 12, she'll be in her mid twenties, twenty seven is what I'm thinking now, which will make her twenty one right now at this point in the story. She's going to be a parent figure in this, and that's how it's going to be.**

**Rate and Review everyone!**

**Till next time!**


	2. The conversation

"I want to become Nartuo's guardian."

Sarutobi looked at Anko with a curious look, knowing that he had heard right, but wanting for her to say it again just so that they were both sure of what she said. He wanted to know why she suddenly wanted to watch over Naruto, as he knew that they never really talked to each other much. When the little blond would report to the Hokage at least a few times a week, he would probably say something if a suggestively dressed woman were to talk to him if the case were to ever arise.

"Hmm? You wish to become the guardian of Naruto? Tell me why." He didn't bother beating around the bush when it came to his surrogate grandson. Now usually, he would have instantly said 'no' to anyone who would try to adopt or take in Naruto, but that was only because he feared that people would only do that in order to get closer to him to kill him. Anko was different, though. She obviously held no hate for the little boy, and had no reason to. She was an orphan before the Kyūbi attack, and in truth had no friends at the time, so nobody that she knew was hurt by the nine-tailed fox.

"Because… Because he needs someone to look after him." She said hesitantly, still unsure about why she wanted to become the boy's guardian. She just knew that she had to do it, but she didn't at all know why.

"Yes, he does, but how does that reason make you any more qualified to look after him than the others who have asked the same things of me?" He asked her, getting a look of surprised from the pineapple-haired Chunin.

"Others? What others and how many were there?" She asked a bit frantically, questioning why the Hokage wouldn't let Naruto have a parent figure in his life.

"If I remember correctly, the Naras have asked me to give them custody of him, as well as Yamanaka Inoichi, and I believe even Chōza has done the same as well. Hiashi has asked to allow the Hyūga clan to watch over him, and surprisingly enough, an Inuzuka has asked the same. Tsume, I believe." Anko couldn't believe what she was hearing. Those were all great clans, but why hadn't Sarutobi allowed them access to look after the boy?  
As if the Hokage were reading her mind, he spoke up once more just as she opened up her mouth and raised a hand to tell her to keep quiet until he was done. "Before you ask any questions, I know that I should have let them take care of him, but I have no way of knowing if their intentions are true or not. I understand that I could have Inoichi come here and use his clan techniques, but what if they are conspiring against Naruto-kun? I cannot take risks like that, not with him. I've failed them far too much to let anything else come to him."

Somewhat, Anko was able to understand what he was getting at. In a world where your killer could be your best friend, a little paranoia was always good for you. It wasn't all too surprising to hear that all that the Ino-Shika-Cho trio all decided to house the boy, since when one made a decision, the other two usually agreed with it, especially when it was Shikaku who was making the decisions. However, she was more surprised to hear that the stoic Hyūga clan was also wishing to take in the boy. As far as she knew, no big numbers were taken off that clan during the attack six years ago, so maybe they weren't doing it out of revenge for their fallen clansmen. She could see the Inuzuka's trying to get a hold of Naruto, since they had been known to pick up 'strays' everyone once and a while.

However, she didn't know what his last statements meant. She assumed that it had something to do with the Kyubi, but his reasoning was much more than that. He had promised the boy's parents to look after Naruto, and he wasn't going to let them down any more than he already had.

Anko stood there and thought heavily about why she wanted to watch over Naruto. It was true that she felt bad for him, and shat she could obviously relate to him, but she knew that there was more than just being able to relate to him.

"I…" She started once more, but held back since she simply couldn't piece together the right combination of words that would explain why she wanted to watch over the little Uzumaki. Pictures of him flashed through her mind of the few times that she had seen him, smiling as brightly as the sun and not caring what others said or did to him. Surprisingly, she saw herself in him; always doing what she wanted without caring what the villagers did, always having a reason to eat their 'food of the gods', and hiding their pain under a mask of fake emotions.

She wasn't sure how long she was standing there lost in thought, and the fact that it was the dead of the night didn't help at all either. Sarutobi sat there patiently and also had little of an idea of how much time had passed. It hadn't been more than several minutes, but the silence made it seem much more than that.

Breaking the silence, the hokage and a good idea that he would share with Anko and maybe that would give her some more time to think about her answer. He had already deemed her worthy of looking after his surrogate grandson, but he wanted for her to know why she wanted to take care of him, as he already had a pretty good idea of why she opted to do so. He wasn't the Hokage for nothing, and had good reasoning for holding such a title. He was just as smart as he was powerful, making him a dangerous foe in multiple instances. "Anko." He said, bringing her attention back to the real word. "Since it seems that the Kyuubi will not be helping Naruto this time, he will most likely be unconscious for a few days. Take this time to think about why you want to watch over him. When he wakes up, I will send one of my ANBU to get you and you can give me your reasoning then, okay?"

Nodding slowly, Anko said nothing to her Hokage as she stood there, still trying to think over why she wanted to watch over him. She knew that she was far from being the best person to look after a kid, and really, she wasn't even sure that she could do it. Sure he had some spare money after missions, but she had heard that the Junchuriki would put a restaurant out of business if he wanted to. She didn't have the money to pay for that kind of food, and although Dango was her go-to food, she still had to eat healthily. She was a ninja after all, and she needed to be healthy at all times.

"If that is all, Anko. It is getting late, and I believe that you have some thinking to do. Take care." Sarutobi said to her, getting another nod from her before she walked out the door. From the calm and focused look she had on her face, it was easy to see that she was already thinking about this and taking it seriously as well. That was Odd for Anko, especially considering that this was more about Naruto than it was about her.

The Hokage knew, though, as the two of them were both equally important in this matter. He decided not to elaborate on it further, and instead rose from his seat, planning on retiring to his quarters for the night.

* * *

Naruto groaned lowly as he opened his eyes. He had no idea where he was, but it obvious wasn't Konoha. He had been all over the village, and he had not once seen a sewer design like the one that he was currently in. Although the sewer appeared dirty and filthy, there was no scent whatsoever.

The young blonde slowly picked himself up off of the ground and looked around some more. He had realized that there was no pain when he stood up, and upon inspecting his body, he was bruise free, something that was usually common for him, but still off. Usually there would be very light and small markings from the previous cuts, but his body was perfectly fine.

Suddenly, a threatening aura of power made itself known to Naruto, causing him to flinch and take a step back. After a moment of silence, there was a low and deep laugh coming from afar. Naruto wanted to know where he was and how he was perfectly healed, so he followed the sound of the voice where a large gate with a piece of paper on it stood in his way from continuing further. Naruto was small anough to pass through the gates, but he didn't as of yet. He didn't know what was on the other side, and he was being unusually cautious about the ordeal. Suddenly, a deep voice spoke to him.

**"My jailer decides to visit me at last… To what do I owe the honor?"**

The voice was obvious sarcastic, and although nothing could be seen from the other side of the gates, Naruto knew that whoever was speaking to him was on the other side. The young blonde took a small step over to the gate, now examining the piece of paper with the kanji of 'seal' on it.

Naruto didn't know what to say to the voice, as he wasn't sure what it was talking about in the slightest. He had just been called a jailor, but it made no sense to him. He didn't own a prison, and had no relations to one. Deciding to ask the obvious question, Naruto took another small step towards the gate.

"Who are you…?"

A deep and low laugh could be heard from the other side of the gates, and as time passed, it slowly got louder and louder.

**"Who am I…? WHO AM I!? I AM THE GREAT KYUBI NO YOKO!"**

Its thunderous laugh could be heard all throughout the sewers, causing Naruto to take a small step back. Suddenly, its laughing ceased, and there was nothing but silence for a moment. Slowly, the Demon Fox walked up to the bars and looked down at its container, an evil smirk on its face. In reality, the Kyūbi had actually called Naruto into the seal, and only asked the first question to humor itself.

Naruto didn't say anything to the demon fox, his eyes wide and his jaw just slightly down. He had heard about the demon fox attack before when he was sneaking around, but he had no idea that he was connected to it. It all made sense now that he came to the realization of what was going on. Suddenly, his jaw clenched, and his eyebrows narrowed the tailed beast.

"So you're the reason I always get beat up! Because I have you locked up in me! Baka-fox! Why don't you just leave?" He was clearly mad at the fox, but the beast didn't seem offended. The Kyūbi understood the hate that came from the village, as it did attack it six years ago, and did a fair amount of damage. To be fair though, it wasn't really it that was attacking. The Kyūbi knew that someone was controlling him do attack Konoha.

**"If it was that easy, Kit, I would have already left your body by now… We are bound until your natural death."**

The Kyūbi was getting off track, and shook its head slightly at the boy who was looking at him questioningly, wondering what it was talking about.

**"That is not why I called you here, though. I want to make two things perfectly clear."**

It spoke seriously as it practically glared down at the boy, but not sending any killing intent his way. Naruto remained quiet, wanting to know what it was going to say.

**"The first… I did not attack Konoha out of my free will. I was controlled into doing so and had no choice of my actions." **The Kyūbi wanted to make it perfectly clear that it did not intentionally attack Konoha, and by the nod that Naruto gave it, he seemed to have understood that only someone with an impossible amount of power would be able to do such a thing.

**"The second thing is that I do NOT plan on having a weak container. As a Jinchūriki, you are expected to use my power, but I am expecting you to be able to fight your own battles without even thinking about calling on my power. There isn't going to be someone to jump in like what happened just moments ago…" **It smirked evilly at Naruto as it remembered the provocatively dressed purple haired woman, who swooped in and saved Naruto and it.

Naruto wasn't unconscious when Anko had dropped in and saved him, but he wasn't able to look up at her, and her voice was dulled to the point where he could hardly hear anything. He knew that he was lucky for her to come along, and wanted to find a way to thank her if he ever saw her again.

"So… Where are we?"

The Kyūbi should have expected this question, as it had seen Naruto's memories, and he hadn't leaned a whole lot in the six years that he had been alive, so the great beast decided to explain it to him. **"This is your subconscious. The mindscape. With enough training, you can reshape this world with a simple thought, and maybe then I can finally get a nice place to live for once…" **It muttered the last part as it looked down at Naruto, slowly laying down to attempt to become level with the boy.

**"But enough of that." **The Kyūbi spoke, making Naruto look up at it wondering what it was about to say next. **"You need your rest, and let this be a reminder that you cannot rely on me to keep you alive. I expect you to become strong, and when I find you worthy, I will allow you to use my powers."**

Naruto nodded at the demon fox and it nodded back to him. The young boy watched as the world around him became black, and smiled to himself knowing that he had possibly just made two friends. The first one was the Kyūbi itself, who didn't seem as bad as he thought it was going to be; and the second one was the person who had saved him. He knew that he would have to ask the Hokage who had saved him, but that could wait until he woke up.

* * *

Back out in the real world, two ANBU watched over the boy, making sure that nobody would come in and attack him while in this state. It was so odd seeing him there, not being healed, and not smiling in the least.

As if Naruto were reading their minds, his face cracked a slight smile that could be seen by the two ANBU. Without knowing it themselves, the two of them smiled as well. The one with the cat mask dropped down from her position on the ceiling, slowly walking over to Naruto. Inu simply watched as Neko stood at the side of his bed, examining his face, seeing if the smile that they had detected was actually there or not. It had only been a few hours since Anko had dropped him off, but it seemed like an eternity since she had last talked. "

"I guess we should take better care of him now that Anko seems a little protective over him, huh Inu?" She was only given a nod in response, but it was all that was needed. They both knew that Anko would chop their heads off for not protecting him right, and she would make sure that it was as slow and painful as possible for the both of them. Both of them shuddered at the thought of Anko torturing them, and silently decided to be more protective of the boy.

* * *

**Tada! While I'm not all that happy about this chapter, I do feel that I can move on now. I just can't seem to make Anko's emotions real enough during this part, but I hope that I can improve in the future.**

Also, please check out the poll on my page so that you can vote for who will be paired with Naruto. As I said before, Naruto will not be paired with Anko in this, so don't even bother talking to me about the two of them hooking up in this.

**With that out of the way, I'll see you all next time!**


	3. The Poll!

**Howdy doodly Neighborino!**

**I'm now closing the poll, and here are the results:**

**Tayuya in last place with only one vote.**

**Ino in seventh with three votes.**

**Fu, Hinata, and Shizune tie with five.**

**Temari with seven votes.**

**Tenten with eight votes.**

**And Hana with a whopping fifteen votes!**

* * *

**Well, that's the end of the poll and Hana Inuzuka will be paired with Naruto.**

**I'm kind of sad that a few of the girls didn't take the top spot, but I have picked a few of them to be a leading lady in their own story with Naruto!**

**I have picked these ladies mainly because I am already working on stories for them, but I just feel like I should let you guys know what to expect in the next few months.**

**I will be writing stories in the future for Tenten, Temari, and Shizune!**

**See you all later!**


	4. The Dream

Lying down on his bed, the aged Hokage sighed lightly as he looked up at the ceiling, thinking over the recent events involving his surrogate grandson. After six years of violence and torture, Sarutobi was finally starting to see that the village wasn't going to even begin accepting Naruto unless he proved it to them all, and they weren't going to make it easy.

While he did outlaw people speaking openly about the Kyūbi, as well as doing what he could to watch over Naruto, but it would not be nearly enough. He knew all too well that Naruto was attacked almost constantly, and even with ANBU watching over him, they did not do their job completely. They did come in and save him, but only when he had an inch of his life left. They never stepped in when the attacks started, and he knew that he was going to have to start changing a lot of things.

His relaxed gaze turned into a cold stare as he looked up at the ceiling and thought about Naruto's current condition. If he wasn't as lenient as he was, maybe it would have never come to this. Maybe he would have been respected like the Kumo Jinchūriki he had heard about, who also had close relations to the Kage of his village. If only Sarutobi had been a better Kage, then it was possible that Naruto wouldn't have had to face all of the hatred that he currently did. He could have just taken him into the Sarutobi Clan, as nobody would have messed with him then.

For the sake of Naruto, he was going to be a better Hokage.

* * *

Sarutobi wasn't the only person who was thinking about Naruto, as Anko was doing the same on her walk back home, as well as the half hour that she spent while laying in bed.

She didn't know why she wanted to look after Naruto, but something inside of her told her that it had to be done. When she looked around her house, she knew well that it wasn't the best place for a child to grow up in; and decided to start cleaning up, at least a little bit.

On the outside, she wasn't the best choice for being a mother. Even she knew that she wasn't parent material, but something inside of her was telling her that it would be best for the both of them if she were to take him in, and it wasn't the dark whisperings of the curse mark this time. It sounded like her own voice, and didn't remind her at all about the man who had put the seal on her.

He had placed the curse seal on her and later told her that she didn't have the drive to use it, and abandoned her and left her for dead. She idolized the man because he was all that she had, but in the end she threw her away like a piece of trash.

By this time, she was unsure of if she was dreaming or not, but watched as the events unfolded in front of her. She didn't know where she was, but it appeared to be just a plain forest in the land of Fire. Naruto was next to her with a smiling face, and in front of the two of them was another person. It was currently dark out, and she wasn't able to see the face of the third person, but she knew that it was Naruto next to her because of the kind warmth that he constantly gave off.

Naruto took a small step towards the person in front of him and smiled at them. Anko had assumed that the person smiled back from the slight tilt of the head, but was overall unsure of who it was or who it could have been.

Breaking the silence, Naruto took another step forward and kept his eyes on her person in front of him. "Thank you -Sensei! You're the coolest!" He said brightly, getting a nod from the person. Anko looked at them curiously and replayed the sentence in her mind, completely unable to hear the name of the person. It was as if Naruto's voice was completely muted when he had spoke the name of his apparent sensei.

The person nodded and replied back, but to Anko, it wasn't any recognizable voice that she had ever heard. In fact, it was the voices of many people what she had heard before, all speaking different words, but acting as if they were one. **"Thank you Naruto. I'm glad that you came to join me in my trip, but I am also disappointed because of it."** The voice said sadly, looking down at the ground. Naruto Frowned and took another step over to the person.

"What's wrong sensei? Did I do something wrong?" He asked the person, his voice not being muted because he didn't speak the name of his sensei. As both he and Anko looked at the person in confusion, it nodded as it kept its head down.

**"Yes, Naruto. You did do something wrong. You misused my teachings."** The voice now said coldly, striking Naruto quickly. Naruto was fortunate enough to move so that she strike wouldn't hit his heard, but the hand of the person hit his shoulder instead, causing him to spin backwards and hit a tree. Naruto grunted with pain and kept his eyes on his sensei as it moved closer to him.

Anko could only watch as the person picked up Naruto and looked him straight in the eyes. She had no access to her voice, and her legs were stuck to the ground, only allowing her upper body to move. She had tried to scream and yell and get his attention, but neither Naruto or his sensei acknowledged her existence.

"What did I do? I'm sure that I can make it up! I didn't do anything at all!" He tried to hell his sensei, but the person didn't do anything other than backing its head with Naruto's then dropping the boy as soon as it pulled its head back. Although Naruto was losing consciousness, the person spoke to Naruto in the same cold voice as before.

**"Exactly. You did nothing. You are a disgrace and a monster. Even with the power you contain, you are nothing. Useless When they find you, I will be long gone, and I expect for whoever is looking for me will kill you just to get you out of everyone's way."** The being said as it kicked Naruto In the head and ran away at speeds that only a Sannin could have.

Anko was enraged at the person who hurt Naruto, but also worried since she knew whoever would find him would surely finish the job. Suddenly, her legs began to move again, and she quickly ran over to Naruto and held him in her arms. He was a little taller than she had remembered him to be, but it still felt like him.

She didn't know how long she had been sitting there, crying and trying to wake him up, but the next thing she knew he was back in her bed, covered in sweat and the covers that she was sleeping under now on the ground.

* * *

The memories were too real for her, and she replayed them in her mind constantly. Naruto looked so heartbroken when his sensei had told him that it was disappointed. She assumed that he had put a lot of trust into his sensei, and all of a sudden she was out cold and left to die.

Her eyes widened even further as she came to the realization that it was impossibly similar to when she had last seen Orochimaru, but he was in her place, and his sensei was literally anyone, as all of the voices she had heard were from people that she knew.

She struggled to continue thinking about it, but she knew that it was the key to answering the question that her Hokage had given her.

It was so much like her own ordeal, but at the same time it was different. She knew inside that she couldn't let something like that happen to him, and she knew that she couldn't let him turn out like she did.

As she told herself the night before, she began to clean up her apartment after eating breakfast, planning on getting the place clean enough for another person to move in. Anko hoped that the Hokage would allow her to take in the little gaki, and spent more than enough time practicing what she was going to say while cleaning.

After having felt that her apartment was fine for the time being, he smiled to herself and took a brief shower before getting new clothes and heading out. Even though she appeared tough as nails and borderline psychotic on the outside, she wasn't really as mean as she seemed. She had to make an image for herself to prove the village wrong about her, and if that meant not being able to look at things that were even a tiny bit frilly in public, then so be it.

* * *

It was still fairly early in Konogakure, and although Anko usually wouldn't be up at the current hour, but she had business to attend to. He had some things to talk to the Hokage about, as well as the fact that she needed to see if Naruto had gotten better since the night before. Kakashi and Yugao had both told her that the Kyūbi wasn't helping Naruto's healing process, and she only hoped that the fox would finally decide to help now.

While busy with her thoughts Anko wasn't able to see the young girl that she had just bumped in to. Looking down at the girl with a bit of surprise, she kept her face somewhat blank while she studied her. The girl did the same and said nothing, but her face said that she did recognize Anko.

Anko looked down at the girl and couldn't help but notice the two large, red fang-like tattoos that were on both sides of her face. She currently had three pups with her, with one of them being on her head, another on her shoulder, and the last on the ground right next to her feet. Despite not having wild hair, slit eyes, or extended canines, Anko knew well that the girl was an Inuzuka.

While the Inuzuka girl was about to say something, Anko placed a hand over her mouth just as her lips opened, and Anko shook her head softly. "Quiet." She said simply, giving the girl a more serious look. She couldn't place the girl's looks anywhere, and sighed in defeat only seconds after ordering the girl to stay quiet.

The snake mistress removed her hand from the girls mouth and looked at her plainly. "Don't know you. You look a little to… normal, to be Inuzuka. No crazy hair, no crazy eyes, and no giant teeth. What's your name?" She asked to the girl, getting the Inuzuka to smile slightly.

"I'm Hana Inuzuka. You're… Mitarashi Anko… Right?" She asked, getting a nod from the older woman. Anko wasn't sure how Hana knew her name, but before she could ask, Hana spoke again. "Kaa-san said something about you. I can't remember what it was, but she was smiling so it was a good sign."

Anko was now wondering who her mother was, and lucky for her, Hana didn't interrupt her this time when she asked a question. "Who is your mother, and how would….. She's Tsume, huh?" Anko said flatly, knowing that there was no other Inuzuka that she knew around her own age group, and she should have known that it was Tsume's kid from the start. Hana simply nodded at Anko with a small smile.

"She is, and I'm sorry to leave, but I need to go and see Hokage-sama." Hana told Anko, snapping her fingers to get the pup that was on the ground to pay attention and follow her.

Anko watched as the young Inuzuka walked away from her and to the Hokage tower. It was a coincidence that she was also going there, but to not seem like a weird stalker, she decided to change her route slightly to head on her way over to the hospital to check up on a certain young blonde.

* * *

**Tada! Quick little chapter for all of you readers.**

**I'm already starting up on introducing Hana, as you can see above, and I think that she will turn out great.**

**I would also like to say that I would like to have a Beta for this, as well as ones for my upcoming stories that I told you all about in the update.**

**See you all next time!**


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